A Woolwich man has claimed he was scammed out of more than £600 by two Indian faith healers he visited after worshippers of a Sikh temple put a “black magic curse” on him.

Balbir Bakhshi, of Antelope Road, works for various charities across the borough and claims he has gained media attention for his fundraising work since arriving in the UK from India in 1985.

But the 69-year-old says Sikh acquaintances the Gurdwara Sahib temple, in Calderwood Street, became angry at Mr Bakhshi’s attention and subsequently put a hex on him blinding him in his left eye in 2007.

Mr Bakhshi said: “I realised they were putting a hex on me because he was reading some magical words and was gazing at me from across the temple.

“Then I started to see smoke in my eyes and it hasn’t gone away since this.

“You can put a hex on someone – by a telephone call or a letter. It doesn’t matter how.”

After his eyesight failed to improve, Mr Bakhshi decided to seek the help of a local faith healer last month, but after paying £400 for one session he claims the male healer demanded a further £1,200 for ‘treatment’.

He said: “He gave me a small bottle of water and told me to go and throw the water outside and then take a bath and I would be cured. But nothing has happened.

“I still cannot see properly. The situation has gone from bad to worse.”

After he got a refund, unimpressed with the service offered, Mr Bakhshi paid £230 to see another faith healer in Woolwich.

Again Mr Bakhshi requested a refund after his sight was still not restored – only to be told by the healer, another Indian man – that he had given it to charity and would not give it back.

He said: “This man treated me like a child – a baby sucking milk from the breast of its mother!

“He kept telling me he was taking good care of me but he wasn’t. I’m very angry because I am a good man who doesn’t deserve to be treated in this way.”

Mr Bakhshi has not reported either incident to the police.

A spokesman from the Gurdwara Sahib temple said: “We do not believe in black magic.”